The present invention relates to printers. Specifically, the invention relates to a printer with means for superimposing additional character information onto/into a printed image.
Video printers for producing hard copies of video images generated by image sources such as tuners, VCR's, video-disc playback units, computers, and so forth are known. A video printer normally is connected to an image display monitor that displays a source (input) image to be printed. Examples of video printers are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. SHO 63-127890 and Japanese Patent Application No. SHO 63-161801, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference.
It is desirable to print character information (hereinafter referred to as a caption) such as a title for and/or description of an image along with the image to be printed. Hereinafter, the term "caption" refers to a collection of symbols including alphanumeric characters and the like selected to be printed along with an image while the term "character information" refers to symbols which can be used to create a caption. Thus, e.g., character information can include an alphabet while a caption includes a word or words formed by combining selected letters of the alphabet.
One system for accomplishing this creates a caption by operation of a computer and its keyboard, jointly displays a still image and the caption on a monitor, and transmits the caption along with the still image to a printer. This system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. SHO 63-1179, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference.
With respect to a printer, it is possible to create and print a caption along with printed information in a similar manner. However, when the conventional method is applied to a printer, since a caption is input by means of another computer which is not used for the printer, it is necessary to operate a keyboard, i.e., type in the caption information via a keyboard. In addition, the caption being input must be transferred from the computer to the printer through an RS-232-C interface or the like. As a result, the number of key strokes can increase thereby complicating the operation. In addition, a printer that is not equipped with such an interface cannot print the caption.